Aardman’s first VR animation transports users to the heart of the refugee crisis

Aardman and BBC Research & Development have released We Wait, a virtual reality experience that gives users a visceral depiction of a migrants journey from Turkey to Greece. The film will be previewed on 16 August at Publicis UK for the exhibition, There’s a Good Immigrant, which is set to “celebrate the creativity and diverse perspectives that migrants bring to British culture and the creative industries,” says Publicis UK in an announcement.

Built for the Oculus Rift VR headset as part of the BBC’s work exploring the potential of VR for future audiences, We Wait will be Aardman’s first interactive VR animation. Based on accounts gathered by BBC News, the “hard-hitting” VR film tells real life stories of refugees centred around the current crisis. The subject matter demonstrates a technical and well-researched production that moves away from traditional reporting, while highlighting the “sense of suspense and anticipation” felt by “displaced” people travelling to Europe.

Alongside Aardman’s film, the exhibition will bring together artists — who are migrants themselves, second-generation migrants and those whose work reflects on the topic. The show will present various mediums, including painting, photography, sculpture, collage, spoken work and virtual reality animation. Visual and spoken word artists include Ildikó Buckley, David Buonaguidi, Suchi Chidambaram, Inua Ellams, Alison Jackson, Bob and Roberta Smith, Hormazd Narielwalla and many others.

Immigration Is A Good Thing For British Culture by Bob and Roberta Smith will be one of the “highlight works” at the show. The pair are well-known for raising awareness through protest art. “Art is necessarily an international language. Immigration to Britain has made Britain an amazing culture, stronger with depth of appreciation of others woven into it. We are not an ignorant or naive monoculture, we are a polyphonic multi-faceted super abundant multiculture,” say the duo.

Jo Wallace, creative director at Publicis UK spoke about the reasons behind the There’s a Good Immigrant exhibition: “The UK has a wonderfully rich cultural heritage, resulting from generations of different communities coming together, enriching society and inspiring new entrepreneurial visions,” she says. “We need to reflect this melting pot of talent, with diverse voices, skin tones and perspectives in ads and that starts with welcoming greater diversity into agencies and marketing departments. With There’s a Good Immigrant, we aim to not only inspire clients and creatives from all backgrounds but also to provoke positive debate within the wider industry and beyond.”

There’s a Good Immigrant will run from 17 August – 1 September 2017 at Publicis UK, 82 Baker Street, London. Funds raised through the artwork sales at the exhibition will be donated to the arts charity Iniva, the Institute of International Visual Arts.

Big Finds a Trumpet is about a happy character called Big who annoys his friend Little with a trumpet he finds. “It’s about relationships… and basically the fact that the people you like most can sometimes be the most annoying,” says London-based Dan Castro who created the animated short.

Given a completely open brief by Columbia Records for The Shins’ latest video, Half a Million, directing duo Lamar+Nik took the chance to make something they’d always wanted to make. “We always had this idea of a sticker trail being animated, but the surroundings remaining live-action,” explains Jesse Lamar High, one half of the duo. “We hadn’t seen it before, and there’s something really fun about taking mundane things and making them exciting. Plus it’s accessible to everyone. It’s almost as if you and your friends are going around one day putting stickers in unexpected places.”

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Working in Tel Aviv and London, animator Daniela Sherer has lent her skills for The School of Life’s latest lesson that tackles the subject of forgiveness. Daniela has created shorts for the institution in the past and here she’s been tasked with visualising how integral forgiveness is for the continuation of social life.

Tel-Aviv-based illustrator and animator Yuval Haker has created an animated music video for Israeli musician Alon Eder’s track I Am Sex. The song was recorded entirely on an 80s style Casio organ and deals with sex, intimacy, love and anxiety. The American-British-Israeli animator created the video as part of his graduation project at the Bezel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem and was given “complete artistic freedom” to interpret the artist’s song.

“Ever wondered how rad people are so rad?” asks animator Adam Black’s new film. “Now, being rad is easier than ever! Simply follow these steps and you too could be one of those rad people out there.” How To Be Rad opens with meditations on what defines a “rad” person from a selection of disembodied voices accompanied by a chaotic but mesmerising, array of morphing part-human, part-Frankenstein bodies.